Lost and Found
by Mohkki
Summary: Alfred has not seen his brother for fifteen years but with a little help that might be changed.


They had been looking for a week now, and Alfred was nervous as they approached the house.

Alfred had been five years old when he lost contact with his ten years older half-brother Arthur. He had applied to the TV show "Long lost family" for help in finding him again.

They shared the same father, a not very well liked business man, whom Alfred resembled quite a bit but Arthur not at all. The man had decided to move to the US with his new family, Alfred and his mother that is, and had no qualms about leaving his oldest back in England with his mother.

This had of course caused quite a big rift between father and son and they never spoke again. It was, I fact, so bad that the father forbid his children to ever try to contact each other, and he made sure it stayed that way. For as long as he was still around that is, because not even a month after his fathers death did Alfred try and find his lost brother.

That was not the easiest thing to do since all Alfred had was a name and vague memories. His father had been the only one to know anything of value and he took that knowledge with him to the grave. But Alfred was anything if not stubborn and decided get help from professionals. The television programme Long Lost Family.

It had taken some really extensive searching by the team on the show. They had begun looking for any records of their father since they didn't have Arthur's surname and had luckily come across the birth certificate of an Arthur Jones.

They looked to the mother's side and found her maiden name; Mayhew. They thought of the possibility of Arthur taking his mother's name after the separation but it had proven fruitless. None of the Arthur Mayhew's that matched the description were the right one. They had hit a dead end and Alfred had been very disappointed.

But then they found out that Arthur's mother had had children before him and they contacted an Angus McCallahan in Scotland. Unfortunately he didn't have much contact with any of his siblings, but he could tell them that after Arthur's mother and father had separated, his mother had re-married and Arthur had taken that mans name; Kirkland.

Finally a good lead again and Alfred's spirits were lifted and he was feeling hopeful, they were getting somewhere.

But once again when they searched for an Arthur Kirkland in the archives to fit the description they ended up empty handed. They tried again with a wider search and came up with Arthur Kirkland-Bonnefoy that fit their dexcription. They decided to give it a try and they got hold of an address.

So, here Alfred stood. Nervous, excited and hopeful. This was the last chance, they didn't have any more leads. Arthur's mother had died a few years ago and her husband quite recently. Ian had told them that he and the other brothers had little to no contact with Arthur so they had no idea what he was up to or where he lived. They didn't even have phone numbers.

This was Alfred's last hope, his last chance to find his lost brother. A brother who he had been very close to and who he had missed terribly. For most of his life he had been left to wonder what had happened to him and tonight fifteen years of separation might come to an end.

They were standing outside a nice house in a medium sized town a little ways outside London. Alfred nervously looked down at his wristwatch and the numbers 18.42 glowed back at host of the show was going to knock first and see wether or not it was the Arthur they were looking for and if so, he wanted to meet Alfred.

She approached the door and the butterfly's in Alfred's stomach fluttered wildly. But the host never made it to the door, it opened and a man stepped out.

"-just tell her you can't work late that night, she'll understand." The voice spoke in crisp London accent, slightly raised so as to reach whoever was inside the house. The man wore simple jeans and a t-shirt, his hair was blond and slightly messy, like he ran his hand through it a lot, and when he turned around Alfred recognised the face immediately.

He had aged, of course, since he was fifteen. Face more angled and mature. But even though Alfred was only five when they had parted, he could still see that it was his brother. No doubt about it. It was his Arthur.

When the man on the steps saw the film crew in his garden he was, quite naturally, surprised and halted in the middle of a step, bag of rubbish held tightly.

He looked around in bewilderment until he saw Alfred and as their eyes met both knew.

"Alfred?" It came out soft and breathless, not quite believing. Alfred came closer with a nervous smile on his face and Arthur let go of the bag of rubbish to step closer too.

"Is that really you?" Alfred smiled even bigger and not really trusting his voice just nodded happily, tears coming to his eyes.

They took the last few steps towards each other and met in a fierce embrace.

Alfred was so happy, he had finally found his brother after fifteen long years. He couldn't hold back his tears of happiness and just let them flow.

Arthur drew back a bit, but only as much as he absolutely needed.

"Let me look at you," He said and held Alfred's shoulders. Alfred was slightly taller . He was wearing glasses- he didn't at five. He was now a handsome young man grown up from the sweet little boy that he was last time they saw each other.

"God, you've gotten so big."

They both laughed a little teary laugh and just enjoyed the moment.

"Arthur?" Came from the door and a man with a pyjama clad baby in his arms walked out. He halted his step when he saw what was before him, surprise on his face. Arthur turned his head to look at him but didn't let go of Alfred.

"Francis! It's Alfred!"

He must have known of Alfred because Francis' face took on a new level of surprise and a smile blossomed as well. He stepped closer to them.

"Is it really?" He spoke with a slight french accent. Arthur just smiled and nodded to answer the question and turned back to Alfred.

"This is my husband Francis," He said and placed one had on Francis' shoulder.

"Nice to meet you," Alfred smiled. He was still quite emotional but still remembered his manners and offered his hand. But Francis just laughed and said "No, no we're family, come here," and pulled him into a one armed hug and kissed him once on each cheek.

Alfred, unprepared, was a bit embarrassed by this but smiled and returned the embrace none the less.

"And who is this?" He asked and smiled at the little boy in Francis' arms. He wiggled his finger at him, not quite tickling.

"Oh, this is Peter, our son," Arthur said, pride shining in his smile. "Look Peter, this is you uncle Alfred," He cooed.

"Wow, you're a dad." Alfred could barely believe it. "Hi, Petey I'm uncle Alfie. Can you say uncle Alfie?" He smiled and leaned closer to Peter. Peter didn't seem very impressed though and just rested his head onto Francis' shoulder and started sucking his thumb.

"He hasn't started talking yet I'm afraid." Arthur laughed. "And sorry about that, it's past his bedtime so he's a bit grumpy." He stroked his son's soft head.

"Oh, how old is he?" Alfred asked.

"Ten months." Francis answered and kissed his son's forehead.

The hostess came up to them carefully and introduced herself and the show to Arthur and Francis and explained how they had helped Alfred in finding them. She congratulated them on finding each other and asked them kindly to please make a comment for the camera, which Alfred and Arthur happily did while Francis excused himself to put little Peter to bed.

They agreed that it was a bit late and that they should meet up again tomorrow for some more comments and follow up. Arthur invited Alfred to stay the night with them in the guest room and Alfred gladly accepted. They had a lot to talk about.

And talk they did, all the way through dinner and long into the night. They talked about everything and anything; where Arthur had attended university, what sports Alfred preferred, how long had Arthur been married and, of course, about their father, the move and their childhood. Alfred told Arthur about how difficult it had been to find him when he had changed names, not just once but twice!

They talked memories, about hopes and dreams, the past and the future and now they had each other and they would never ever let themselves be separated again.

"I'm really glad I found you, Arthur. I missed you so much," Alfred said as they were parting to go to bed.

"Me too," Arthur smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow." And those simple words filled Alfred with a happiness and content he had never felt before.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

The end.


End file.
